Great article on the skills crisis long pre-dated COVID19 from Olly Newton over at the AOC.

Check out the link below

https://www.aoc.co.uk/blog/the-skills-crisis-long-pre-dated-covid19

A brilliant bulletin from Edge. Well worth a read!

See the article at

https://www.edge.co.uk/news/edge-news/skills-shortages-in-the-uk-economy-bulletin-7 

or download the bulletin at

https://www.edge.co.uk/sites/default/files/documents/skills_shortage_bulletin_7_web-final.pdf 

This looks really interesting. Well spotted Emma at EBP NW. We need to see how many of our members are also FSB members. Lets chat on the AEBP linked in members forum!

https://grants.fsb.org.uk/ 

The information and guidance from the Cabinet Office public bodies on payment of their suppliers is very clear that they should be paying suppliers as normal (even if their delivery is disrupted or suspended. The majority of EBPs are not centrally funded and are operating as small businesses who need the support from public bodies to ensure they are still in a position to resume normal contract delivery once the outbreak is over.

The full information and guidance are detailed clearly in the Procurement Policy Note 02/20 released in March. Available  HERE

Today the AEBP have released its now “Proud Member” logo available for all our members to use on emails footers and other promotional materials.

A special logo for its members to use was asked for by many of our members at our two most recent events and is something we are delighted to make available.

It utilises our existing logo with its striking colours and is available in three different sizes.

The logo’s are available in the new “resources” section of the website. Which can be found by clicking HERE

Running low on ideas to keep the kids entertained? Look no further than Heathrow’s fun, new educational resources aimed at 7-11 year olds.

At Heathrow, our number one priority is always the safety of our passengers and colleagues. Our colleagues and partners are working around the clock to respond to the fast-moving impacts of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), whether that be helping our passengers get to where they need to be as safely as possible or rearranging their travel plans.

We are also doing our part to help the local community during this challenging time. We have produced a number of fun and engaging educational activities to help primary schools and parents with at-home learning. These activities are suitable for children aged 7-11 and feature exciting aspects of the airport such as cargo and communications. Each activity takes around 45 minutes to complete.

Please access and download the Heathrow At-Home Learning Resources at www.heathrow.com/education:

• Cargo Challenge
• Communications Challenge
• Quiz

Please share these activities with pupils, parents and any community organisations which may benefit.

We will be adding further activities in the coming weeks, so do check the website regularly for updates.

If you use these activities, or have any feedback, we’d love to hear from you at education@heathrow.com.

These activities form part of Heathrow World of Work, a youth employment movement to inspire future careers at the airport and beyond.

Best regards,

The Education & Skills Team

Heathrow Airport

Find out if you’re eligible and how much you can claim to cover wages for employees on temporary leave (‘furlough’) due to coronavirus (COVID-19).

If you cannot maintain your current workforce because your operations have been severely affected by coronavirus (COVID-19), you can furlough employees and apply for a grant that covers 80% of their usual monthly wage costs, up to £2,500 a month, plus the associated Employer National Insurance contributions and pension contributions (up to the level of the minimum automatic enrolment employer pension contribution) on that subsidised furlough pay.

This is a temporary scheme in place for 3 months starting from 1 March 2020, but it may be extended if necessary and employers can use this scheme anytime during this period. It is designed to help employers whose operations have been severely affected by coronavirus (COVID-19) to retain their employees and protect the UK economy. However, all employers are eligible to claim under the scheme and the government recognises different businesses will face different impacts from coronavirus.

For full up-to-date information check out the government website and advice

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme

 

Very useful document for businesses to check their eligibility for support.

Download PDF Here

In the first Budget since October 2018, new Chancellor Rishi Sunak has set out a comprehensive set of measures to support business and households through the coronavirus crisis with business rate relief, time to pay tax deferrals and underwriting the cost of statutory sick pay for smaller businesses

With coronavirus as the major concern facing the country, Sunak set out details of a £7bn fiscal stimulus to support British businesses and households through the crisis, while setting aside a £5bn funding pot for the NHS to deal with anything thrown up by covid-19.

‘What everyone needs to know is that we are doing everything we can to keep this country’s people healthy and financially secure,’ Sunak said.

‘Our economic response to bring stability and security. Let me say that we will get through this together. We will rise to this challenge. This virus is the key challenge facing our country today, but it is not the only challenge.

‘As we deal with coronavirus it is a Budget that deals with security today, but plans for prosperity tomorrow.’

‘There is likely to be a temporary disruption to our economy and business supply chains are being disrupted. For a period our productive capacity will shrink and there will be a reduction in consumer spending. This will have a significant impact on the UK economy but it will be temporary – people will return to work… life will return to normal. For a period it will be tough but we will return to normal.’

‘We need to support those who get sick or can’t work, we need to supply a bridge for businesses – we need a response that is temporary, timely and targeted.’

Sunak also said that he had been working closely with the Bank of England which announced a series of measures earlier today including cutting the base rate and releasing funding for small to medium sized businesses (SMEs).

Three-point plan

The Chancellor said the government would use ‘fiscal action to support public services, households and businesses, with a three-point plan’.

‘Whatever extra resources our NHS needs to cope with coronavirus they will get, whether it’s billions of pounds or millions of pounds, we stand behind our NHS

‘During the immediate crisis, we will make sure that our safety net remains strong enough for people to fall back on.

Statutory sick pay (SSP) will be available from day one for all those who are told to self-isolate and employees will be able to contain a sick note by contacting 111 rather than going to a GP. For those self employed and working in the gig economy, Sunak said the government planned to ‘make it quicker to access benefits. £1bn commitment to support financial stability of people.

Those on contributory employment and support allowance will be able to claim from day one instead of day eight.

Support for businesses

‘The measures on SSP are crucial for those who need to take time off work. If we expect 20% of workforce to be unable to work, so cumulative cost to SMEs would hit them hard. For businesses with fewer than 250 employuees.the cost of providing SSP for up to 14 days will be refunded by the government in full – this is equivalent to £2bn for small businesses.’

HMRC will also scale up the time to pay service to allow businesses and self employed to defer tax payments. A new helpline has been set up with 2,000 staff standing by ready to help.

Sunak also said banks would offer loans of up to £1.2m to support SMEs.

On business rates, Sunak said he was taking an ‘exceptional step to abolish business rates for live venues totally for this year and this will be extended as a 100% retail discount to any eligible retail operation.

For any businesses with rateable value below £51k, this will be waived equal to a tax cut worth £1bn for next financial year.

‘Nearly half of all business properties in England will not pay business rates,’ Sunak said.

‘On small business rates relief there will be a £3,000 cash grant per business to 700,000 of smallest businesses, and this is part of a £7bn support package for coronavirus.’

To assist small and medium businesses a new temporary business interruption loan will be made available to help with cashflow.

The overall package also sets aside up to £5bn for NHS to deal with coronavirus crisis, while the entire package equates to a £30bn fiscal stimulus to support British businesses and people.

HM Treasury: Support for those affected by Covid-19

The AEBP have now launched two new discussion groups on LinkedIn

You can search for the Association of Education Business Professionals as a company on LinkedIn or follow the link https://www.linkedin.com/company/38131141/ from here you can select the “About” tab on the left hand side and then see the two featured groups on the right hand side.

Alternatively search directly for the groups on LinkedIn or use the links detailed in the information and description for each group below.

AEBP Members Only
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13838307/

The AEBP Members Only group will be exclusively for subscribed members. Discussion will be closed to non-members and the group will be used to discuss topics such as:

• Development of new services and products of the AEBP.
• Sharing funding opportunities.
• Asking for help and advice across the network.

Professionals in Education and Business Links
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13843081/

The Professionals in Education and Business Links group will be open for all to join but will still need to have access approved (to keep out spam advertisers etc). We strongly encourage sharing access to this group to employers, schools and other professionals across the industry.

• Stimulating discussions relevant to the current social and economic climate and how it impacts upon our sector
• A place for like minded people to share working practises or look for help and advice.
• A platform for relevant products and services to be showcased across a wider network.

If you have any suggestions or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Please don’t forget to follow us on twitter @TheAEBP